News Story

Rumour-mill: LucasArts cuts nearly 100 staff, trouble in the Empire?

According to email communiqué filtering through to Kotaku, LucasArts has been giving the boot all over from testers to producer big-wigs.

One such soul is Shawn Storc, the now ex-producer of Lego Star Wars and the recently released Lego Indiana Jones. Knights of the Old Republic 3 even gets a mention.

From Kotaku:

"We've continued to receive e-mails throughout the day from folks who it seems are now formerly in the employ of LucasArts, telling us this and that about the circumstances behind their departure from the company."

"But few are as revealing as one we were sent earlier this evening. One former employee has told us not only how he was immediately sacked after six years of service, but how wide-ranging the layoffs appear to be, and the impact they'll supposedly have on many of Lucasart's upcoming projects. Some of them as-yet-unannounced. Projects like KOTOR 3, a Wii Star Wars title and the non-Lego Indiana Jones game."

The teams working on Star Wars The Force Unleashed and Fracture seem to be safe, at least for now. This move is believed linked with the departure of LucasArts previous president Jim Ward who left for "personal reasons," but an employee at the time blamed management differences led to his departure.

"Most interestingly, however, is the information they provide on how the layoffs leave the company severely short-staffed as they approach a packed development schedule, one which it appears may be increasingly outsourced."